Let s Talk about Spiritual Warfare

Transcription

1 Let s Talk about Spiritual Warfare John 10:10; Galatians 5:1 *Get free; stay free; become a freedom fighter *A woman who was visited by a demon when she was five and our struggle to get her free; a man who came to Christ because a demon appeared in his bedroom; a young lady who experienced night terrors since she was in fifth grade; a man who freaked out because one of his associates started manifesting a demon; an older man who was visited in the night and became paralyzed under a presence; a young lady who was tormented by night terrors and wanted prayer; a woman who experienced perverse dreams every night until she received prayer and breaking of the demonic she felt something leave and has had nothing since. What is this warfare? How do you win? I. The origin of Satan - Adversary a. John 8:44 He was already evil when God made Adam and Eve He was in the serpent The great dragon was throne down, the serpent of old who is called the devil (diabolos - slanderer) and Satan. Rev. 12:9 *Michael is the only angel referred to as an arch angel. In Jude when Michael confronts him he does not pull rank it would seem that Satan was an arch angel or maybe even the head angel before he fell. b. Ezekiel 28:13-17 Satan took possession of Judas (Luke 22:3) and has possessed people in times past for his purpose. He will eventually take up residence in the anti-christ. Address is to the king of Tyre and to the one behind him (or possibly in him). i. You had the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering; the ruby, the topaz and the diamond; the beryl, the onyx and the jasper ii. You were the anointed cherub who covers and I placed you there. You were on the holy mountain of God. iii. You were blameless in your ways from the day your were created until unrighteousness was found in you. iv. Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom by reason of your splendor. c. Isaiah 14:12-15 The king of Babylon only mention of his name. i. You have fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the dawn! ii. You said in your heart: 1. I will ascend to heaven. (He was on earth) 2. I will raise my throne above the stars of God. (He was a king stars is a reference to the other angels)

2 3. I will sit on the mount of assembly. 4. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; 5. I will make myself like the Most High. d. He was cast down to the earth in Isaiah 14 and that is where we find him when man was created. There is evidence that something destroyed the original creation. Genesis 1:1-2 hayah became; tohu va Bohu formless and void. *The geological record indicates an old earth and human beings arriving very recently. From the beginning *Jesus never satisfied our curiosity as to origins. e. His battle began with Satan Matthew 4 and Luke 4; and His crucifixion was planned by Satan as he had entered Judas to bring it about. He is never called a fallen angel nor are his followers ever called fallen angels yet it is assumed. f. The term Satan and his angels is found in both Matthew 25 and Revelation 12. In all other places his followers are called demons, Greek is daimon ; we assume demons are Satan s angels. He is called the ruler of demons. (Matt. 9:34: Luke 11:15) In God s eyes they have lost the dignity of being called angels. g. Satan has a kingdom (Luke 11:18) and every spirit in that kingdom is under instructions from him. In Luke 13 a woman had a sickness caused by a spirit and was healed causing the Pharisees to be angry. She said she was bound by Satan for eighteen long years. Resisting the devil is resisting the kingdom that he rules and the influence his kingdom tries to bring. Levels of spiritual darkness according to Eph. 6: i. Rulers those who seek to oppress, possess and rule people on earth. ii. Powers worse demons who can be called upon to possess (Luke 11). iii. World forces regional darkness Daniel 10 the prince of Persia. iv. Spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. The second heaven although with access to the third. Job, Luke 22:31 Satan has demanded permission to sift you. h. One third of the countless angels fell (Rev. 12:4). This is a lot since Hebrews 12:22 calls them myriads or innumerable. Similar to the stars. (Appendix for 2Peter 2:4 and Jude 6) i. Jesus called him the ruler of this world. The ruler of the world is coming, and he has nothing in Me. (John 14:30) Paul called him the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. (Eph. 2:1-2) John says the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. (1Jn 5:19) Tragically, all human beings who are not

3 saved are unknowingly being ruled at some level by the kingdom of darkness. II. III. The defeat of Satan. a. He gained authority over the earth from Adam. Luke 4:6 So Jesus came to get it back. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil. (1Jn 3:8) b. He had to become a human being to take our sins and die a death for us to gain authority back. Since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives. (Heb. 2:14-15) c. He disarmed the rulers of darkness of their authority over mankind. Col. 2:13-15 He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him. Jesus has authority on earth. He has already exercised His authority over Hades and will one day exercise His authority over death. Rev. 1:18; Matt. 28:18 d. Authority now belongs to believers. Mark 16:17 flows from relationship not ritual Acts 19 Seven sons of Sceva. I am with you always. Acts 3:6 You have the Name of Jesus in your arsenal. No believer can be possessed by a demon, but they can be oppressed if they allow it; or if the Lord allows it. 2Cor. 12 Paul; Rev. 2 Smyrna; 1Peter 5:8-10 Suffer for awhile until deliverance. God uses darkness to test His people and to teach His people warfare. Spiritual warfare today. a. Two extremes in the church. i. Ignoring and defining everything as psychological or physical plays right into the enemies hands. Managing demons is a horrible life and they always want more ground. ii. Overreaching and treating authority in a cavalier way. *Boxing but not hitting anything. Luke 10:17-20 The seventy returned with joy, saying, Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name. And He said to them, I was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning. Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents

4 and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will injure you. Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven. iii. A balance. Beelzebub Lord of the flies annoying some are like mosquitos others are like bees and wasps. You must deal with them or they at the least distract you and at the most kill you with poison. iv. Regional rulers authority over yourself; authority to pray for your family and individuals; church needs to have its own prayer meeting; region-wide darkness is broken by region-wide unity and prayer. b. Strategies of hell will not overcome the church: i. Lies 2Cor. 10:4-5; John 8:32 *The sword Eph 6:18; Matthew 4:4 ii. Offense Eph. 4:26-27 *He wants us to be in the wrong war. Forgiveness is a weapon. iii. Pride James 4:6-7 *This is why he fell and it s why new converts shouldn t be made leaders:; so that he will not become conceited and fall into the condemnation incurred by the devil. *God only gives grace to the humble humble yourself. iv. Fear He goes about as a roaring lion. 1Peter 5:8 *Resting in Christ s victory is powerful. Rom. 16:20; Phil. 4:6-7 v. Persistence Luke 11:14-26; Gal. 5:1 *Some have accepted backsliding as the normal trajectory of a Christian. vi. A slumbering spirit. Luke 21:34; church at Sardis; ten virgins who all fell asleep. Heb. 10:23-24 Fellowship with believers wakes us back up. We need each other. c. Yokes that will often attach themselves to believers entrance can be sinful choices or simply generational areas of weakness: i. Depression Isaiah 61 calls it the spirit of heaviness. Starts off with discouragement and produces self pity when agreed with becomes depression and often leads to thoughts of suicide. Jesus is here to fight for you. *This week Is. 61 He s anointed to give you the oil of joy for the spirit of heaviness. ii. Lust. Sexually immoral thoughts all the time. *If you feel dirty, you will live dirty. Jesus wants to wash you clean by the power of His blood. You are not a pervert. iii. Greed. You can t serve God and money. Darkness wants to make our greatest comfort having money, and our greatest fear that we won t have enough. God wants to break that hold.

5 iv. Bitterness. Started out as an offense that made you angry instead of dealing with it you let it fester and now it s the greatest weight of your life. v. Anxiety and fear. You are always worried and never have a moment s peace. This is just who I am. No it isn t. 2Tim. 1:7 vi. Shame. Something you ve done or something that was done to you, or something about you has made an entrance for shame and it s become your companion. Not I ve done something bad; I m bad. vii. Short-term pleasure. Lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. *You seem powerless to answer God s call to sacrifice. Any suffering immediately causes you to be offended with God. Moses embraced suffering and sacrifice by seeing Him who is invisible He chose this over the passing pleasures of sin. viii. Self righteousness You can t let God help you because you re already good or at least better than others. Jesus didn t come for the self- righteous; He came to call sinners to repentance. ix. Witchcraft or rebellion if this has been in your past renounce and remove anything attached to it. x. Unbelief Matt. 13:58 d. Getting free. i. People must want to be free. *Owning the nail in the house. ii. If it is geographical see if there is something giving him permission. *Egyptian sun god. In Acts they got rid of all of their witchcraft books. Get rid of any overt thing that welcomes demons. iii. Using the Name of Jesus. Mark 16:17; Acts 17 *Let them exercise their own authority. *One Tuesday night. e. Staying fee. i. We must recognize our carnal nature is not a demon yet it is at enmity with God. We will not lose this until Jesus comes back. Gal. 5:16-17 We don t have to change our carnal nature; we need to die to it every day. *Putting on clothes. ii. Lives filled with the Presence of God. John 5:19; Matt. 11:28-30 IV. The future of Satan. a. He will lose access to the third heaven. Revelation 12:10 and possess the beast who will rule with terror. Rev. 13 b. He will be bound for 1,000 years and released one last time. Rev. 20 c. He will be cast into the lake of fire and experience eternal punishment. Matt. 25 Appendix: What about the angels that fell and are now locked up in Tartarus (2Peter 2:4; Jude 6)? It seems to me that there was a second group of angels who fell in the

6 days before the flood. Jude says they committed immorality which goes along with Genesis 6 about the sons of God having relations with the daughters of men. He later quotes the book of Enoch which the early church held in high regard. This book gives many details about the fall of the holy watchers (angels in that day). It says there were 200 of them and that they had 20 leaders. They produced Nephilim on the earth and for their sin God locked them up in Tartarus which is the word 2Peter 2:4 uses; its only usage in the New Testament. Enoch also indicates that when the Nephilim died their spirits joined the demonic spirits that oppress mankind. It is important to note the 1Enoch is not scripture so no doctrine can be made from it.